Tufted yarn fabric and method for weaving same



V. GERO March 17, 1931.

TUFTED YARN FABRIC AND METHOD FOR WEAVING SAME Filed Oct. 16, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet l R 0 m m N I fizz: TOR @ERO.

"I ATTORNEY V. GERO March 17, 1931.

TUFTED YARN FABRIC AND METHOD FOR WEAVING SAME Filed Oct. 16, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ENTOR.

. NV We 70, 65 w. BY fifziz@ ATTORNEY V. GERO March 17, 1931.

TUFTED YARN FABRIC AND METHOD FOR WEAVING SAME Filed Oct. 16, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR. V10 70/? fiER-O.

ATTORNEY V. GERO March 17, 1931.

TUFTED YARN FABRIC AND METHOD FOR WEAVING SAME Filei Oct. 16, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

VMTOR 6:7?0.

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ATTORNEY "Patented 1?, 1931 PATENT OFFIE VICTOR GERO, OF GLENSIDE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO PENNSYLVANIA CARPET CORPORATION; OF PHILADELPHIA, IPENNSYLVANIA, A GORPOBA'IION OF NEW YORK TUFTED YARN FABRIC AND METHGD FOR WEAVING SAME Application filed October 18, 1928. Serial Ho. 312,763.

The present invention relates to the art of-weaving tufted pile'fabrics and more par ticularly to a new article of manufacture and the method and apparatus for weaving the same.

In the weaving of tufted pile fabrics and particularly such as woven on looms employing tube frames for bringing the tufts of colored yarn into proper position with respect to the warp and weft, it has long been the goal of the manufacturer to weave rugs, carpets and other fabrics having not only a heavy pile pattern face but a back which is smooth, soft, evenly filled out with tufts and having the pattern clearly defined thereon.

In other words there has long been an unfilled demand for a fabric woven on a tuft tube frame loom wherein the free ends of the looped tufts form the pile face of the fabric while the tuft bends form the face of the back instead of the usual exposed wefts and binders which give a ribbed efi'ect without any semblance of the face pattern.

Some of the objects of the, present invention are to provide an improvedtufted pile fabric; to provide a tufted pile fabric wherein the back thereof bears a replica design of that on the face of the fabric; to provide a tufted the bee of, the fabric to the exclusion of the wefts, the staffers and the binders; to provide a method of weavin a tufted pile fabric wherein the weft, stu ers, and bindare are concealed in the body of the fabric while the tufts are exposed both on the face and the back of the fabric; to provide a loom mechanism for weaving a tufted pilefabric havin a soft back face with the pattern expose thereon; to rovide an improved combingmechanisrn or looms to provide means for looping a yarn tuft about a shot of weft; to provide means for tufts about a shot of weft and beii'iilllfl' the pile whereby tufts conceal the wefts, binders ahd studers on the back face'ofthe fabric; to provide a device 'operatin in conjunction with the comb of a loom or bringmg the yarn tufts respectively into register with the spaces between the warp threads; to provide a device wherein the tufts of ile wherein the tufts are visible on" placing -fabric; and to provide other improvements as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 represents the face of a new fabric woven by the present invention; Fig. 2 represents the back of the same; Fig. 3 represents a sectional perspective of the fabric; Fig. 4 represents an enlarged detail showing the relative positions of the tufts, wefts and warp in the woven pile; Fig. 5 represents an enlarged detail with the fabric s read apart to show the crossing ofthe bin er and stufi'er warps; Fig. 6 represents a fragmentary elevation of a loom embodying one form of the. present invention; Fig. 7 represents a fragmentary front elevation of the loom; Fig. 8 represents the warp shed in position for the first shot; Fig. 9 represents the same in position for the second shot; Fig. 10 represents the same in position for the third shot; Fig. 11 represents a plan of the comb frame of the loom showing a comb-plate forming a part of the present invention; Fig. 12 represents a bottom plan of the same; Fig. 13 represents a detail of the comb-plate showing the back thereof; Fi 14 represents a detail in front elevation 0 the comb-plate; Fig. 15 re resents a detail in front elevation of the com Fig. 16 represents an end elevation of the assembled comb and comb-plate; Fig. 1.7 is a diagrammatic view of the osition of the comb and comb-plate when t e tufts pass through the harness; Fig. 18 is a diagrammatic view showing the comb-plate at the end of its lateral movement to turn the tufts into position to be lifted by the comb; Fig. 19 is a diagrammatic view showing the osition of the comb-plate and the comb a er the tufts have been looped about a shot of weft; and Fig. 20 mpresents an enlarged section transversely of the warp showing the operating position of the comb-plate.

Referring to the drawings, a new tuft pile fabric 6 is shown having a face 7 formed by the ends of the tufts 8 after looping them about the shots of the weft 38. The fabric 6 I present invention since a plain fabric can be equally well woven by the present weaving method. The back of the fabric 6 appears as a close but relatively loose grouping of the bi hts of the tufts 8 and each bight has its i our sides respectively in abutting relation with four bights of-four bounding tufts and hence the general effect is asurface composed of a plurality of squares of yarn, eachsquare being the bight of a tuft: A distinctive characteristic of the back of the fabric is the absence from view of any of the warps and the weft and hence the usual unsightly rows of wefts "and warps are lacking. Thus the fabric presents a back face formed solel of tuft bights arranged in rows in closely a uttin relation and since the looping of the big hts takes place Without placing any tension upon the tufts the result is a surface soft to the touch, yielding under pressure, and resilient when pressure is removed. In additionto these desirable properties, the back is pleasing in appearance and shows the same design which appears upon the front of the fabric.

The method of producing the fabric of the invention is illustrated in the present instance b a fabric havin three shots of weft, two stu er warps and a binder warp and consists of looping a row of tufts without appreciable tension aboutthe weft shot which is below the stufier warps, binding this tuft weft with the other wefts and beating the row of looped tufts into the pile in'such a manner that two weft shots which have no tufts looped thereabout are pressed into. the side of the row of tufts and above the weft upon which the tufts are looped. This heating up of the row results in the bights of the tufts being turned laterally in the same direction to lie in the plane of the bottom of the fabric. Thus instead of the bightof the tufts being tangent-to the plane of the bottom, as in the ordinary tufted fabric with exosed warps and wefts, the bights actually lie 1n the plane of the bottomsurface of the fabric and effectually conceal all warps and wefts. In other words, the loop portion of each tuft is turned transversely of the pile so that the bridge portion of the-bight is in a plane parallel to t e hodyof the tuft which forms the pile, that isto say the centersof the bights all lie in a plane paralleling but spaced from the surface plane of the back of the fabric. The eflect of heating the wefts and tufts to make this turn in the bights of the tufts causes each tuft to have legs of unequal length'even though the ends of the tufts terminate in the same plane. The .mass effect of the turned bights is that of a complete surface made up of a plurality of half-bights, all in close contact with each other. One step in the method consists in holding the ends of the tufts against displacement when the tube frame passes them through the warp and turning them laterally into the path of the loom comb while maintaining them respectively in register with the spaces between the warp threads. This turning step merely bends the warps without exerting. any ulling action upon the tufts and hence the tu t fibers are not stretched but to the contrary retain their natural flufi'y state. The method generally considered consists in looping tufts about the weft shot which is to take a position nearest the bottom of the fabric pile without placing the fibers of the tufts under tension and beating theweft and tuft row into the fabric so that the bight of each tuft is turned out of the vertical plane of the tuft ends to forma bottom surface composed entirely of tuft bights. An important step in this method is in so beating the weft as to allow both stufler warps to pass straight through the fabric in parallel planes and in brin 'ng this about the final result is the locating o the second shot of weft between the first and third shots to thereby provide such a relatively narrow space between rows of tufts asto becom pletely sealed by the tuft ends.

One form of loom for carrying out the aforesaid method and weaving the fabric of the invention comprises generally a loom frame 10, heddle frames 12, i3 and 14, yarn spools 15, tuft yarn frames 16', a comb 17, knife bar 18. the reed 20, and weft needle 21. The heddle frames 12, 13 and 14.- are arranged transversely of the loom frame and are respectively suspended from rocker arms 22. 23 and 24 pivoted to a bracket pin 25 fixed to the main frame 10. The arrangement of the heddle frames is such that heddle frame 12 is nearest the breast beam 26 of the loom: the heddle frame i l is furthest from the beam 26.; and the heddle frame 13 lies between the frames 12 and i4. 1

For actuating the rocker arms 22, 23 and 24. rods 27, 28 and 30 extend downward from the respective arms and terminate in cam rollers 31, 32 and 33 riding in the cam slots respectively of the three harness cams 34, 35 and 36 which are keyed to the main driven shaft 37 in order to rotate in synchronism therewith. The cams 3%, 35 and 36ers so the first shot 38 of the weft is made the shaped and arranged relatively that when heddle frames 12 and 13 will be raised and the I 12 will be; raised and the heddle frames 13 40 and 41 are down.

and 14 will Be -lowered thus forming the shed as shown in Fig 9 wherein stufferwarp40 is up while the stufier warp 41 and binder warp 42 are down; and when the third shot 44 of the weft is, made the heddle frame 14 is up and heddle frames 12 and 13 are down to form the shed as shown in Fig. 10 wherein binder warp 42 is up while the stuifer warps The crossing of the warps by the foregoing heddle frame action is shown in Fig.5.

The yarn spools 15 and tuft yarn frames" 16 are operated and automatically timed in the cycle of operations in the manner usual in this type of tufted yaru' fabric looms, and for that reason need not be here specifically described.

The comb 17. is of the usual Lfiat bar construction rigidly mounted upon an oscillatory frame 45 and having vertically disposed slots 46 forming fiat-topped teeth 17 to pass between the warps to comb the respective yarn tufts upwardly about the shot of weft. The number of comb teeth s7 corresponds to the number of tufts in-a row. The comb frame 45 consists of a flat-faced bar 48 suitably recessed to seat the comb 17 which is fastened theretoin any suitable manner so that the teeth 47 project as a row uniformly above the to edge of the bar 48. Arms 56 support the. ar 48 from a shaft 51, the ends of which are journalled on center pins 52 carried-by arms 53 fixed to a rock shaft 54., The rock shaft 54 is supported at its ends on center pins 55 mounted upon a fixed part of the loom frame, and motion is transmitted to the shaft 54 by a lever 56 operated by a rotatable (ram 57 driven in timed relation to the associated parts. A spring 58is coiled about the shaft 54: and tensioned by engagement with afixed art so that the shaft 54 is not subject to vi ration during the operation of the loom. This construction allows the comb 17 to have a movement controlled by the roclr shaft 54, and a second movement controlledby the movement of the frame 45 about the center pins 52. Thus the shaft 51 is free to swing the comb 17 with the rise and fall required to b'rin the tufts up to the position where the rec 20 can. beat them into the pile. This rockin motion of the comb frame 45 is transmitte by a rod 59 pi voted ht its up er end to a fixed pin 66 on a lug 61 of the ame 45 while its lower end is connected foroperation by the comb cam 62 which is designed and timed tooperate the comb 17 at the proper time in the weaving cycle I 64 so that it has face to face sliding contact with the outer face of the comb 17. The arms 64 are respectively pivoted to ears 65 journalled upon the-shaft 51 in order that the comb-plate 63 can have a rise and fall motement relative to the comb 17 whereby the top or tuft engaging edge of the comb-plate 63 can assume positions above and below the plane of the tops of the comb teeth 47; The operating position of the comb-plate 63 is with its top edge above the corresponding edge of the comb 17 and it is normally held .in this position by the action of two flat strip springs 66 which are fastened at one end to the lug 61 and have free ends respectively bearing against laterally disposed lugs 67 projecting from the comb-plate 63. 4 The arrangement is such that the tension of the springs 66 is in the direction to bring the comb-plate 63 to its operating position, and

-since only a relatively light tension is re-' quired for this purpose a relatively light counter-force only will be required to shift the comb-plate 63 so that its edge is below the edge of the comb 17. Such a counterforce is supplied by the combined tension of the stretched warps and these are therefore employed to shift the comb-plate 63 at the proper time in the cycle. The top edge of the comb-plate 63 is provided with a plurality of notches 70 preferablyof acurved contour and each of a size substantially correspondin to the diameter of the tufts used. The num rand arrangement of these notches 7 0 correspond to the number and arran ement of the comb-teeth 47, and in assem led condition each notch 7 0 is registered with and in front of one of the teeth while the dividing ribs 71 of the notches are respectively registered with the comb slots 46. Thus as the frame as is initially swun about the ins 55 by motion transmitted t rough the ever 56, the comb-plate 63(whic-h is in osition paralleling the row of tuft ends beow the harness) moves to engage the row of tuft ends and each notch 70 therein picks up and seats the tuft opposite to it. The movement of the comb-plate 63 continues until the tuft ends are turned parallel to the harness and each end will then be below the ion the strip springs 66 to prevent the comb-plate v 63 from further upward movement with the .11;

comb 17, and in consequence the comb teeth respectively carry the tufts upward between the warp spaces while the warps ride into the respective'slots 46 of the comb. Thus,the bight of each tuft has been formed by a'lateral brushin action of the comb-plate and a turning of t e tuft end under the vertical rising of the comb, both actions taking place without subjectin the tufts to tension. As a result the fibers o the tuft bights retain their natural soft pliable state and inherent resilience which is so desirable in rugs and carpets. Another result obtained by thus preserving the natural state of the yarn is that in the completed pile each bight abuts all of the immediately surrounding bights so that-the spaces which would ordinarily appear exposing the warp and weft are filled by the natural spread of the tuft fibers which are free and unhampered because they have not been drawn taut during the looping of the tuft about the weft.

For the purpose ofretaining the end tufts in position to be turned and combed through I the warps, the ends ,of'the comb-plate 63 are provided with vertically disposed flanges 7 2 which are so spaced apart as to snugly receive a row of tufts between them when the comb-plate 63 is moved to engaging position with respect to the tuft row. lhis construction prevents the end tufts of a row from spreading laterally and ensures such end tufts seating respectively in the end notches of the comb-plate 63 in order to be properly turned and looped.

,Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of weaving a tufted pile fabric, which consists in combing a row of tufts about a shot of weft in looped formation, making two other shots of weft to one side of said tufts, all of said shots traversing one series of binder warp and two series of stufier warp, raising and lowering the series of binder warp to interweave vertically with all of said shots, and successively beating said shots to cause the second shot of weft to take a position between the first and third weft shots with the two series of stufier warps extendin straight through the fabric in parallel p anes, said heating operation causing the loop of each tuft to be turned laterally so that one le of each tuft is longer than the other and the longer laterally turned portion parallels the shorter turned portion, and is exposed as the back of the fabric to conceal all warp and weft.

2. A tufted pile fabric woven with three shots of weft comprising two series of stufier warp extending straight across the fabric in parallel planes the first shot of weft lying below both stufi er wraps, the third shot of weft lying above both stufier warps, the second shot of weft lyin between the two stufier warps and between t e first and third shots of weft, a binder warp interwoven about the three shots of weft, and tufts looped about the first shot of weft having bights laterallyoffset respectivel from the vertical axes of the tufts, one hal bight of each tuft passing between the first and second shots of weft, and the other half of each bight being parallel thereto and forming an ex'posed'fabric back which conceals all warp and weft.

3. A tufted pile fabric woven with three shots of weft comprising two series of stufier warp extending straight across the fabric in parallel planes, the first shot of weft lyin below both stuffer warps, thethird shot 0 weft lying above both stuifer warps, the second short of weft lying between the two stuffer warps and between the first and third shots of weft, a binder war interwoven about the three shots of we t, and tufts looped about the first shot of weft, each tuft having one leg longer than the other leg and laterally turned to parallel the shorter end portion of the tuft so that this longer turned portion of each tuft is exposed as the back of the fabric to conceal all warp and weft.

Signed at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, this 10th day of October, 1928.

. VICTOR GERO. 

